It is desirable to provide thermal energy to locations not easily accessible to a furnace, or conventional heat source. For example, one application is directed to water lines disposed adjacent to outer walls of structures exposed to frigid temperatures capable of freezing the water in the lines, possibly bursting the lines. A solution is to secure a cable containing a wire disposed in the cable that produces thermal energy in response to electrical energy applied to the wire. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a cable 10 that contains a fiberglass core 12 with a helically extending conductor or wire 14 about the core. A layer 16 of fiberglass overlies conductor or wire 14, with an additional layer 18 of silicone or other flexible material forming an outer jacket of cable 10.
While cables of this construction can be extremely versatile in response to unique heating requirements, there are problems associated with providing an electrical termination to an end of the cable. In order to provide an electrical termination to an end of the cable, a sufficient length of the helically extending wire adjacent to the cable end must be exposed. This is a challenging task. The electrically resistive wire is extremely small, typically ranging from about 0.002 to 0.010 inch in diameter, so that conventional methods of exposing conductors in cables, i.e., stripping the outer layer(s) such as by cutting the layers, risk severely damaging, if not completely severing the wire, rending the cable useless for its intended application.
What is needed is a device that can easily and reliably provide an electrical termination for cables having electrically resistive wires for providing electrical resistance heating, without damaging the wires.